Should I commit suicide now or later? Oliver Stone is planning to make the first major film on the 911 terrorist attacks: Three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone will direct superstar Nicholas Cage in the first major Hollywood movie about the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, producers announced. The as-yet untitled film, which will be made for Paramount Pictures, will tell the true stories of the last two men to be rescued alive from the ruins of the collapsed World Trade Center in New York. “It’s...

Our periodic linkfest pointing you to interesting posts from DIFFERING viewpoints. These viewpoints do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its co-bloggers. This edition will contain some posts on the London bombing as well. Making Sense Of The Bombings: It’s the old question about if there is a God, how can he (she) allow this to happen? Mark Daniels tries to make sense of it in theological terms. EXPOSING A CULT: A truly remarkable post by Chris Short who shares with...

To those of you who email or say blogs are unimportant little pieces of ego (although a different word than “ego” is usually used) do we have news for you: THEY think we’re important — and they’re gearing up to try to recruit us in the upcoming Supreme Court fight(s): Political groups preparing to battle over the first U.S. Supreme Court nomination in 11 years have a powerful new tool — Internet blogs — to spread information quickly and influence decision...

TWO THOUGHTS when you see this headline: (1)how can sheep jump inside of a turkey? and (2) which political party does this remind YOU of (you fill in the blank depending on your bias)?: ISTANBUL, Turkey — First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy...

As the world turns its attention to the tragic and troubling events in London, another event is unfolding: gearing up by the White House and GOP to face a unique opportunity and political risk: filling two Supreme Court seats: A week after Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement, the White House and its allies are preparing for the possibility that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist might soon follow suit, opening up a second vacancy to fill and scrambling the politics of this...

This is a special guest column by Robin Koerner, a British citizen, an American resident, and publisher of www.WatchingAmerica.com (listed in OTHER VOICES) on our blogroll. LONDON CALLING By Robin Koerner As a child, watching television in England, I often listened to news about IRA terrorist bombings. As a teenager, I became increasingly frustrated at hearing, after each such attack, politicians’ saying, “The terrorists will not win�. It seemed so hollow all the while the attacks...

The brutal and tragic bombings in London yesterday immediately spawned a controversy — over President George Bush’s so-called “flypaper” theory as the surface unity in the U.S was marked by partisan passions erupting on both sides. Two prominent weblogs blasted the Bush administration for its approach — and ignited a mini firestorm. The Daily Kos wrote in part: Bush’s latest rationale for maintaining the course in Iraq adventure has been the “flypaper...

With all the horror of the London terror bombings, it’s nice to remind ourselves of all the people quietly doing good in the world. Bitch, Ph.D. gets the link.

If blogging didn’t kill my chance already, Orin Kerr has some useful advice on how all of you can compete with me for that cherished position. Cliffnotes version: specialize in something. For me, it’ll be Church/State jurisprudence, Critical Legal Studies/Race Theory, and their intersection. But that might run up against his adomination to be wary of “fads.” Oy…

Watch the silly liberal jump at the merest shadow of “hate speech”!

Cross-posted to The Debate Link PrawfsBlawg links to a Chronicle of Higher Education column (sub. only) which says that bloggers have a reduced chance at being hired as faculty members at colleges and universities. Fortunately for me, both PB and Conglomerate feel that the reasons are weak, at best. But then, they’re both bloggers. After all, life isn’t fair–it might not matter that the reasons are weak. After all, in the hyper-competitive academic market, even the slightest downside...

TMV has done his posts on the road…but he now has to leave. This means our post on the London bombings will not be updated on the post itself. HOWEVER: if there is more breaking news there’s a chance a co-blogger — if available — will update it. Our own updates will resume later tonight. Stay tuned!

If this is true and you add it together with the bombings in London today, Al Qaeda is on a roll: Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a Web posting Thursday that it had killed Egypt’s top envoy in Iraq, showing a video of the blindfolded diplomat identifying himself. The video did not show his death. A statement purportedly from al-Qaida said it delayed claiming responsibility for the Saturday abduction of Ihab al-Sherif “to be able to capture as many ambassadors as we can.” The claim of responsibility...

Who is the latest celebrity activist to earn a “watch” blog from the opposition? Find out here.

Portland blogger Michael Totten – also the editor of Iraq’s Friends of Democracy group blog – has an amusing but provocative post on humanity’s difficulty in accepting social tranquility. He’s heard that cats often hallucinate their natural environment because their minds can’t handle suburban living rooms, and wonders if humans are fundamentally the same: I’ve long suspected that activistas (meaning those who protest everything for the sake of protesting)...

A series of seemingly coordinated blasts hit London subways today injuring 90, killing at least two — and done with an MO similar to the March 11, 2004 mass-casualty train bombings in Madrid. It was the worst attack on London since World War II: A series of explosions struck London’s public transportation system Thursday in what Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) called a coordinated series of “barbaric” terrorist attacks, most likely to coincide with the opening of the G-8...

A new factor in AIDs prevention? A study has shown that circumcision greatly reduces female-to-male HIV infection — and the results were so overwhelming that French and South African researchers halted the study: French and South African AIDS researchers have called an early halt to a study of adult male circumcision to reduce HIV infection after initial results reportedly showed that men who had the procedure dramatically lowered their risk of contracting the virus. The study’s preliminary...

Do you like it when comedians make fun of elected officials? Are you a fan of satire such as Mad Magazine, Saturday Night Live or the satire you hear on conservative and liberal radio talk shows? Is so you MUST hear the Capital Steps. TMV has some of their CDs and they’re a scream. They do song parodies with screamingly funny lyrics and short stand up bits. Click HERE and you can go to their website and sample songs such as Bush singing If I Only Had A Plan (If I Only Had A Brain/Heart/Nerve),...

A complicated and shadowy story has suddenly gotten more complicated and shadowy. Under pressure and threat from the courts, a journalist reveals a protected source. Another refuses and is hustled to jail. Another high profile journalist involved in the case seemingly faces nothing. Rumors grow that perhaps the President’s right-hand man and political mentor is the source prosecutors are trying to identify. Some call for federal shield laws to protect journalists who don’t want to reveal...

Now critics can say watching President George Bush on an overseas trip is like watching a slow motion bike accident: GLENEAGLES, Scotland -President Bush collided with a local police officer and fell during a bike ride on the grounds of the Gleneagles golf resort while attending a meeting of world leaders Wednesday. Bush suffered “mild to moderate” scrapes on his hands and arms that required bandages by the White House physician, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. The accident...

Cross-posted to The Debate Link. I have a confession to make. I don’t like democracy. Longtime readers may be a bit surprised to hear this. And before I go on, allow me to make some caveats. When it comes to democracy, I am decidedly Churchillian–I agree whole-heartedly that “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.” This is why I am such a fierce advocate of international democratization–simply put, in most cases it...

Who cares that London got the 2012 Olympics? Not some media-savvy New Yorkers, at any rate. New-media maven Jeff Jarvis goes off: We did not need another security threat; an expensive stadium; drug-crazed athletes; an overdose of reporters; endless gushing features on the 6 pm news; candy-colored banners festooning our city, trying to put us in a good mood; and yet more touurists. New York never needed the Olympics and as they pointed out on the radio this morning — comparing the crowd of...

Orin Kerr has two very interesting posts on how legal blogging is, will, and might affect more mainline legal scholarship. Here was my contribution in the comments: I think it’s the website of Green Bag that notes the relative absence of “mid-range” legal scholarship out there. That is, you’ve got whatever sum up the AP runs of certain media-worthy court cases, and then you’ve got 60 pages tomes in the Harvard Law Review–and little to nothing in between. Blogs...

Puritannical geeks of the world, rejoice! You can engage in your love of gadgets past without polluting your mind – too much – by reading about the strange and wonderful history of vibrators. I do have to say, what kind of rational person – male or female – would have used these early contraptions unless ordered by a physician?

TMV will be leaving shortly for north of L.A. and will be stuck in traffic saying words his mother didn’t want him to say. He’ll then do a show in his other incarnation and go to a hotel, where he will resume enlightening eager minds with computers. However, do check back often since our co-bloggers may have some things on tap today. TVM’s own posts will resume around 6 p.m. San Diego time.